{{Tip|This is part of a multi-page article for The Beginners' Guide. '''[[Beginners' Guide|Click here]]''' if you would rather read the guide in its entirety.}}

{{Tip|This is part of a multi-page article for The Beginners' Guide. '''[[Beginners' Guide|Click here]]''' if you would rather read the guide in its entirety.}}

</noinclude>

</noinclude>

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{{Tip|These are optional for the majority of users. Useful only if you plan on writing in your own language in any of the configuration files, if you use diacritical marks in the Wi-Fi password, or if you would like to receive system messages (e.g. possible errors) in your own language.}}

{{Tip|These are optional for the majority of users. Useful only if you plan on writing in your own language in any of the configuration files, if you use diacritical marks in the Wi-Fi password, or if you would like to receive system messages (e.g. possible errors) in your own language.}}

−

By default, the keyboard layout is set to {{ic|us}}. If you have a non-[[Wikipedia:File:KB_United_States-NoAltGr.svg|US]] keyboard layout, run:

+

By default, the keyboard layout is set to {{ic|us}}. If you have a non-[[Wikipedia:File:KB United States-NoAltGr.svg|US]] keyboard layout, run:

# loadkeys ''layout''

# loadkeys ''layout''

−

...where ''layout'' can be {{ic|fr}}, {{ic|uk}}, {{ic|be-latin1}}, etc. See [[KEYMAP#Keyboard_layouts|here]] for a comprehensive list.

+

...where ''layout'' can be {{ic|fr}}, {{ic|uk}}, {{ic|be-latin1}}, etc. See [[KEYMAP#Keyboard layouts|here]] for a comprehensive list.

−

The font should also be changed, because most languages use more glyphs than the 26 letter [[Wikipedia:English_alphabet|English alphabet]]. Otherwise some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. Note that the name is case-sensitive, so please type it ''exactly'' as you see it:

+

The font should also be changed, because most languages use more glyphs than the 26 letter [[Wikipedia:English alphabet|English alphabet]]. Otherwise some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. Note that the name is case-sensitive, so please type it ''exactly'' as you see it:

# setfont Lat2-Terminus16

# setfont Lat2-Terminus16

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=== Establish an internet connection ===

=== Establish an internet connection ===

+

+

{{Warning|udev no longer assigns network interface names according to the wlanX and ethX naming scheme. If you're coming from a different distribution or are reinstalling Arch and not aware of the new interface naming style, please do not assume that your wireless interface is named wlan0, or that your wired interface is named eth0. You can use the "ip" utility to discover the names of your interfaces.}}

+

+

From systemd-197's release and onward, udev now assigns predictable, stable network interface names that deviate from the legacy incremental naming scheme (wlan0, wlan1, etc.). These interface names are guaranteed to be persistent across reboots, which solves the problem of the lack of predictability of network interface name assignment. For more information about why this was necessary, read http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/PredictableNetworkInterfaceNames .

The {{ic|dhcpcd}} network daemon is started automatically at boot and it will attempt to start a wired connection, if available. Try pinging a website to see if it was successful. And since Google is always on...

The {{ic|dhcpcd}} network daemon is started automatically at boot and it will attempt to start a wired connection, if available. Try pinging a website to see if it was successful. And since Google is always on...

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rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 16.660/17.320/18.254/0.678 ms}}

rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 16.660/17.320/18.254/0.678 ms}}

−

If you get a {{ic|ping: unknown host}} error, you will need to set up the network manually, as explained below.

+

If you get a {{ic|ping: unknown host}} error, first check if there is any problem with your cable (or if you have enough wireless signal), otherwise you will need to set up the network manually, as explained below.

−

Otherwise, move on to [[#Prepare_the_storage_drive|Prepare the storage drive]].

+

Otherwise, move on to [[#Prepare the storage drive|Prepare the storage drive]].

==== Wired ====

==== Wired ====

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Follow this procedure if you need to set up a wired connection via a static IP address.

Follow this procedure if you need to set up a wired connection via a static IP address.

−

If your computer is connected to an Ethernet network, in most cases, you will have one interface, called {{ic|eth0}}. If you have additional network cards (apart from the one integrated on the motherboard, for example), their name will follow the sequence {{ic|eth1}}, {{ic|eth2}}, etc.

In this case, the ethernet interface is enp2s0f0. If you're unsure, your ethernet interface is likely to start with the letter "e", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter "w". You can also use iwconfig and see which interfaces are not wireless:

* Domain name (unless you're on a local LAN, in which case you can make it up).

* Domain name (unless you're on a local LAN, in which case you can make it up).

−

Activate the connected Ethernet interface (e.g. {{ic|eth0}}):

+

Activate the connected Ethernet interface (e.g. {{ic|enp2s0f0}}):

−

# ip link set eth0 up

+

# ip link set enp2s0f0 up

Add the address:

Add the address:

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For example:

For example:

−

# ip addr add 192.168.1.2/24 dev eth0

+

# ip addr add 192.168.1.2/24 dev enp2s0f0

For more options, run {{ic|man ip}}.

For more options, run {{ic|man ip}}.

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{{Note|Currently, you may include a maximum of 3 {{ic|nameserver}} lines.}}

{{Note|Currently, you may include a maximum of 3 {{ic|nameserver}} lines.}}

−

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed [[Configuring Network]] page.

+

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed [[Network Configuration]] page.

==== Wireless ====

==== Wireless ====

Follow this procedure if you need wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) during the installation process.

Follow this procedure if you need wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) during the installation process.

+

+

If you're coming from another distribution, or if this is your first time installing Arch Linux since the deprecation of the old interface naming scheme, you might be surprised to learn that the first wireless interface is not named "wlan0". In fact, none of the interfaces are automatically prefixed with "wlan" any longer. Don't panic; simply execute {{ic|iwconfig}} to discover the name of your wireless interface.

The wireless drivers and utilities are now available to you in the live environment of the installation media. A good knowledge of your wireless hardware will be of key importance to successful configuration. Note that the following quick-start procedure ''executed at this point in the installation'' will initialize your wireless hardware for use ''in the live environment of the installation media''. These steps (or some other form of wireless management) '''must be repeated from the actual installed system after booting into it'''.

The wireless drivers and utilities are now available to you in the live environment of the installation media. A good knowledge of your wireless hardware will be of key importance to successful configuration. Note that the following quick-start procedure ''executed at this point in the installation'' will initialize your wireless hardware for use ''in the live environment of the installation media''. These steps (or some other form of wireless management) '''must be repeated from the actual installed system after booting into it'''.

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Also note that these steps are optional if wireless connectivity is unnecessary at this point in the installation; wireless functionality may always be established later.

Also note that these steps are optional if wireless connectivity is unnecessary at this point in the installation; wireless functionality may always be established later.

−

{{Note|The following examples use {{ic|wlan0}} for the interface and {{ic|linksys}} for the ESSID. Remember to change these values according to your setup.}}

+

{{Note|The following examples use {{ic|wlp3s0}} for the interface and {{ic|linksys}} for the ESSID. Remember to change these values according to your setup.}}

The basic procedure will be:

The basic procedure will be:

−

* (optional) Identify the wireless interface:

+

* Identify the wireless interface:

# lspci | grep -i net

# lspci | grep -i net

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{{hc|# iwconfig|2=

{{hc|# iwconfig|2=

−

lo no wireless extensions.

+

enp2s0f0 no wireless extensions.

−

eth0 no wireless extensions.

+

wlp3s0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"NETGEAR97"

−

wlan0 unassociated ESSID:""

+

Mode:Managed Frequency:2.427 GHz Access Point: 2C:B0:5D:9C:72:BF

−

Mode:Managed Channel=0 Access Point: Not-Associated

+

Bit Rate=65 Mb/s Tx-Power=16 dBm

−

Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm Sensitivity=8/0

+

Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off

−

Retry limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off

+

Power Management:on

−

Power Management:off

+

Link Quality=61/70 Signal level=-49 dBm

−

Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0

+

Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0

−

Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0

+

Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:430 Missed beacon:0

−

Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0}}

+

lo no wireless extensions.}}

−

In this example, {{ic|wlan0}} is the available wireless interface.

+

In this example, {{ic|wlp3s0}} is the available wireless interface.

* Bring the interface up with:

* Bring the interface up with:

−

# ip link set wlan0 up

+

# ip link set wlp3s0 up

A small percentage of wireless chipsets also require firmware, in addition to a corresponding driver. If the wireless chipset requires firmware, you are likely to receive this error when bringing the interface up:

A small percentage of wireless chipsets also require firmware, in addition to a corresponding driver. If the wireless chipset requires firmware, you are likely to receive this error when bringing the interface up:

−

{{hc|# ip link set wlan0 up|

+

{{hc|# ip link set wlp3s0 up|

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory}}

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory}}

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{{Warning|Wireless chipset firmware packages (for cards which require them) are pre-installed under {{ic|/usr/lib/firmware}} in the live environment (on CD/USB stick) '''but must be explicitly installed to your actual system to provide wireless functionality after you reboot into it!''' Package installation is covered later in this guide. Ensure installation of both your wireless module and firmware before rebooting! See [[Wireless Setup]] if you are unsure about the requirement of corresponding firmware installation for your particular chipset.}}

{{Warning|Wireless chipset firmware packages (for cards which require them) are pre-installed under {{ic|/usr/lib/firmware}} in the live environment (on CD/USB stick) '''but must be explicitly installed to your actual system to provide wireless functionality after you reboot into it!''' Package installation is covered later in this guide. Ensure installation of both your wireless module and firmware before rebooting! See [[Wireless Setup]] if you are unsure about the requirement of corresponding firmware installation for your particular chipset.}}

−

Next, use {{Pkg|netcfg}}'s {{ic|wifi-menu}} to connect to a network:

+

Next, use {{Pkg|netcfg}}'s {{ic|wifi-menu}} to connect to a network. Replace ''wlp3s0" with the name of your interface:

+

+

# wifi-menu wlp3s0

−

# wifi-menu wlan0

+

{{Warning|At the moment, netcfg's wifi-menu, when executed without arguments, will look for "wlan0". Execute wifi-menu with your interface as the argument in order to use it. See [[Network Configuration#Get_current_device_names]]

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed [[Wireless Setup]] page.

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed [[Wireless Setup]] page.

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==== Behind a proxy server ====

==== Behind a proxy server ====

−

If you are behind a proxy server, you will need to export the {{ic|http_proxy}} and {{ic|ftp_proxy}} environment variables. '''[[Proxy|Click here]]''' for more information.

+

If you are behind a proxy server, you will need to export the {{ic|http_proxy}} and {{ic|ftp_proxy}} environment variables. See [[Proxy settings]] for more information.

=== Prepare the storage drive ===

=== Prepare the storage drive ===

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{{Warning|Partitioning can destroy data. You are '''strongly''' cautioned and advised to backup any critical data before proceeding.}}

{{Warning|Partitioning can destroy data. You are '''strongly''' cautioned and advised to backup any critical data before proceeding.}}

−

Absolute beginners are encouraged to use a graphical partitioning tool. [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php GParted] is a good example, and is [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php provided as a "live" CD], similarly to Arch. A drive should first be [[partitioning|partitioned]] and the partitions should be formatted with a [[File Systems|file system]] before rebooting.

+

Absolute beginners are encouraged to use a graphical partitioning tool. [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php GParted] is a good example, and is [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php provided as a "live" CD]. It is also included on live CDs of most Linux distributions such as [[Wikipedia:Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu]] and [[Wikipedia:Linux Mint|Linux Mint]]. A drive should first be [[partitioning|partitioned]] and the partitions should be formatted with a [[File Systems|file system]] before rebooting.

−

It's possible to set up a swap file at any point after installation, so there is no need to decide on swap size now. See [[Swap]] for details if you wish to set up a swap partition now (but note that it's much easier to resize a file than a partition).

+

See [[Swap]] for details if you wish to set up a swap partition or file now. A swap file is easier to resize than a partition and can be created at any point after installation, but cannot be used with a BTRFS filesystem.

−

If you have already done so, proceed to [[#Mount_the_partitions|Mount the partitions]].

+

If you have already done so, proceed to [[#Mount the partitions|Mount the partitions]].

Otherwise, see the following example.

Otherwise, see the following example.

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==== Example ====

==== Example ====

−

The Arch Linux install media includes the following partitioning tools:

* [[Wikipedia:gdisk|gdisk]] and [[Wikipedia:cgdisk|cgdisk]] – support only [[GPT]] partition tables.

−

−

* [[Wikipedia:fdisk|fdisk]] and [[Wikipedia:cfdisk|cfdisk]] – support only [[MBR]] partition tables.

−

−

* [[Wikipedia:GNU Parted|parted]] – supports both.

−

−

This example uses '''cfdisk''', but it can easily be followed using '''cgdisk''', which will allow for GPT instead of MBR partitioning.

{{Box BLUE|Notes regarding [[UEFI]] boot:|

{{Box BLUE|Notes regarding [[UEFI]] boot:|

−

* If you have a UEFI motherboard, you will need to create an extra [[Unified Extensible Firmware Interface#Create an UEFI System Partition_in_Linux|UEFI System partition]].

+

* If you have a UEFI motherboard, you will need to create an extra [[Unified Extensible Firmware Interface#Create an UEFI System Partition in Linux|UEFI System Partition]].

* It is recommended to always use GPT for UEFI boot, as some UEFI firmwares do not allow UEFI-MBR boot.}}

* It is recommended to always use GPT for UEFI boot, as some UEFI firmwares do not allow UEFI-MBR boot.}}

{{Box BLUE|Notes regarding [[GPT]] partitioning:|

{{Box BLUE|Notes regarding [[GPT]] partitioning:|

* If you are not dual booting with Windows, then it is advisable to use GPT instead of MBR. Read [[GPT]] for a list of advantages.

* If you are not dual booting with Windows, then it is advisable to use GPT instead of MBR. Read [[GPT]] for a list of advantages.

−

* If you have a BIOS motherboard (or plan on booting in BIOS compatibility mode) and you want to setup GRUB on a GPT-partitioned drive, you will need to create a 2 MiB "[[GRUB#GPT_specific_instructions|BIOS Boot Partition]]". Syslinux doesn't need one.

+

* If you have a BIOS motherboard (or plan on booting in BIOS compatibility mode) and you want to setup GRUB on a GPT-partitioned drive, you will need to create an extra [[GRUB2#GUID Partition Table (GPT) specific instructions|BIOS Boot Partition]]. Syslinux doesn't need one.

* Some BIOS systems may have issues with GPT. See http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/8035.html and http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/bios.html for more info and possible workarounds.}}

* Some BIOS systems may have issues with GPT. See http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/8035.html and http://rodsbooks.com/gdisk/bios.html for more info and possible workarounds.}}

{{Note|If you are installing to a USB flash key, see [[Installing Arch Linux on a USB key]].}}

{{Note|If you are installing to a USB flash key, see [[Installing Arch Linux on a USB key]].}}

−

# cfdisk /dev/sda

+

The example system will contain a 15 GB root partition, and a [[Partitioning#/home|home]] partition for the remaining space. Choose either [[MBR]] or [[GPT]]. Do not choose both!

−

−

The example system will contain a 15 GB root partition, and a [[Partitioning#/home|home]] partition for the remaining space.

It should be emphasized that partitioning is a personal choice and that this example is only for illustrative purposes. See [[Partitioning]].

It should be emphasized that partitioning is a personal choice and that this example is only for illustrative purposes. See [[Partitioning]].

* Press the down arrow a couple of times to move to the larger free space area.

+

* Choose New (or press {{Keypress|N}}) – {{Keypress|Enter}} for the first sector – {{Keypress|Enter}} to use the rest of the drive (or you could type in the desired size; for example "30G") – {{Keypress|Enter}} for the default hex code (8300) – {{Keypress|Enter}} for a blank partition name.

+

|}

−

Here's how it should look like:

+

If you chose MBR, here's how it should look like:

Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB)

Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB)

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sda1 Boot Primary Linux 15360

sda1 Boot Primary Linux 15360

sda2 Primary Linux 133000*

sda2 Primary Linux 133000*

+

+

If you chose GPT, here's how it should look like:

+

+

Part. # Size Partition Type Partition Name

+

----------------------------------------------------------------

+

1007.0 KiB free space

+

1 15.0 GiB Linux filesystem

+

2 123.45 GiB Linux filesystem

Double check and make sure that you are happy with the partition sizes as well as the partition table layout before continuing.

Double check and make sure that you are happy with the partition sizes as well as the partition table layout before continuing.

−

If you would like to start over, you can simply select Quit (or press {{Keypress|Q}}) to exit without saving changes and then restart cfdisk.

+

If you would like to start over, you can simply select Quit (or press {{Keypress|Q}}) to exit without saving changes and then restart cfdisk (or cgdisk).

−

If you are satisfied, choose Write (or press {{Keypress|Shift+W}}) to finalize and to write the partition table to the drive. Type "yes" and choose Quit (or press {{Keypress|Q}}) to exit cfdisk without making any more changes.

+

If you are satisfied, choose Write (or press {{Keypress|Shift+W}}) to finalize and to write the partition table to the drive. Type "yes" and choose Quit (or press {{Keypress|Q}}) to exit without making any more changes.

Simply partitioning is not enough; the partitions also need a [[File Systems|filesystem]]. To format the partitions with an ext4 filesystem:

Simply partitioning is not enough; the partitions also need a [[File Systems|filesystem]]. To format the partitions with an ext4 filesystem:

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# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

+

+

If you have made a partition dedicated to swap (code 82), don't forget to format and activate it with:

+

+

# mkswap /dev/sda''X''

+

# swapon /dev/sda''X''

=== Mount the partitions ===

=== Mount the partitions ===

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# lsblk /dev/sda

# lsblk /dev/sda

−

Pay attention, because the mounting order is important.

+

{{Note|Do not mount more than one partition to the same directory. And pay attention, because the mounting order is important.}}

−

First, mount the root partition on {{ic|/mnt}}. Following the example above (yours may be different), it would be:

+

First, mount the root partition on {{ic|/mnt}}. Following the example when using {{ic|cfdisk}} above (yours may be different), it would be:

# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

−

Then mount the {{ic|/home}} partition and any other separate partition ({{ic|/boot}}, {{ic|/var}}, etc), if you have any:

+

Then mount the home partition and any other separate partition ({{ic|/boot}}, {{ic|/var}}, etc), if you have any:

# mkdir /mnt/home

# mkdir /mnt/home

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In case you have a UEFI motherboard, mount the UEFI partition:

In case you have a UEFI motherboard, mount the UEFI partition:

−

# mkdir /mnt/boot/efi

+

# mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi

# mount /dev/sda''X'' /mnt/boot/efi

# mount /dev/sda''X'' /mnt/boot/efi

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{{Tip|

{{Tip|

−

* Use the [http://www.archlinux.org/mirrorlist/ Mirrorlist Generator] to get an updated list for your country. HTTP mirrors are faster than FTP, because of something called [[Wikipedia:Keepalive|keepalive]]. With FTP, pacman has to send out a signal each time it downloads a package, resulting in a brief pause. For other ways to generate a mirror list, see [[Mirrors#Sorting_mirrors|Sorting mirrors]] and [[Reflector]].

+

* Use the [https://www.archlinux.org/mirrorlist/ Mirrorlist Generator] to get an updated list for your country. HTTP mirrors are faster than FTP, because of something called [[Wikipedia:Keepalive|keepalive]]. With FTP, pacman has to send out a signal each time it downloads a package, resulting in a brief pause. For other ways to generate a mirror list, see [[Mirrors#Sorting mirrors|Sorting mirrors]] and [[Reflector]].

* [https://archlinux.org/mirrors/status/ Arch Linux MirrorStatus] reports various aspects about the mirrors such as network problems with mirrors, data collection problems, the last time mirrors have been synced, etc.}}

* [https://archlinux.org/mirrors/status/ Arch Linux MirrorStatus] reports various aspects about the mirrors such as network problems with mirrors, data collection problems, the last time mirrors have been synced, etc.}}

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{{Note|If pacman fails to verify your packages, check the system time with {{ic|cal}}. If the system date is invalid (e.g. it shows year 2010), signing keys will be considered expired (or invalid), signature checks on packages will fail and installation will be interrupted. Make sure to correct the system time, either by doing so manually or with the {{Pkg|ntp}} client, and retry running the pacstrap command. Refer to [[Time]] page for more information on correcting system time.}}

{{Note|If pacman fails to verify your packages, check the system time with {{ic|cal}}. If the system date is invalid (e.g. it shows year 2010), signing keys will be considered expired (or invalid), signature checks on packages will fail and installation will be interrupted. Make sure to correct the system time, either by doing so manually or with the {{Pkg|ntp}} client, and retry running the pacstrap command. Refer to [[Time]] page for more information on correcting system time.}}

+

+

{{Note| If pacman complains about invalid signatures during the pacstrap phase (''error: failed to commit transaction (invalid or corrupted package)'') run the following command below.}}

{{Warning|The fstab file should always be checked after generating it. If you made an EFI system partition earlier, then {{ic|genfstab}} has incorrectly added options to your EFI system partition. This will in fact ''prevent'' your computer from booting from that drive, so you need to remove all options for the EFI partition except for {{ic|noatime}}. For the other partitions that use it, be sure to replace {{ic|1="codepage=cp437"}} with {{ic|1="codepage=437"}} or else when you next reboot, any mounts with this option will fail and systemd will halt and drop into recovery mode. This should be fixed by linux 3.8}}

A few considerations:

A few considerations:

−

* Replace {{ic|1="codepage=cp437"}} with {{ic|1="codepage=437"}} or else when you next reboot, any mounts with this option will fail and systemd will halt and drop into recovery mode.

−

* Please take the time to align the columns properly, using spaces and the {{Keypress|Tab}} key, like in the examples from the [[fstab]] page. This way it's easier to read and also easier to spot a problem.

* Only the root ({{ic|/}}) partition needs {{ic|1}} for the last field. Everything else should have either {{ic|2}} or {{ic|0}} (see [[fstab#Field definitions]]).

* Only the root ({{ic|/}}) partition needs {{ic|1}} for the last field. Everything else should have either {{ic|2}} or {{ic|0}} (see [[fstab#Field definitions]]).

−

* The {{ic|1=data=ordered}} option can be removed, because it will be used automatically whether you specify it or not. No point in cluttering up your fstab.

−

* Though its presence will not do any harm, you may remove the tmpfs on /tmp as this is now handled by systemd's tmp.mount unit. If you want to disable /tmp on tmpfs, you must remove the fstab line and mask tmp.mount. (systemctl's mask option)

=== Chroot and configure the base system ===

=== Chroot and configure the base system ===

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# arch-chroot /mnt

# arch-chroot /mnt

+

{{Note|Use {{ic|arch-chroot /mnt /bin/bash}} to chroot into a bash shell.}}

At this stage of the installation, you will configure the primary configuration files of your Arch Linux base system. These can either be created if they do not exist, or edited if you wish to change the defaults.

At this stage of the installation, you will configure the primary configuration files of your Arch Linux base system. These can either be created if they do not exist, or edited if you wish to change the defaults.

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KEYMAP=de-latin1

KEYMAP=de-latin1

FONT=Lat2-Terminus16

FONT=Lat2-Terminus16

−

FONT_MAP=}}

+

}}

* {{ic|KEYMAP}} – Please note that this setting is only valid for your TTYs, not any graphical window managers or Xorg.

* {{ic|KEYMAP}} – Please note that this setting is only valid for your TTYs, not any graphical window managers or Xorg.

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* {{ic|FONT}} – Available alternate console fonts reside in {{ic|/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/}}. The default (blank) is safe, but some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. It's recommended that you change it to {{ic|Lat2-Terminus16}}, because according to {{ic|/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.Lat2-Terminus16}}, it claims to support "about 110 language sets".

* {{ic|FONT}} – Available alternate console fonts reside in {{ic|/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/}}. The default (blank) is safe, but some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. It's recommended that you change it to {{ic|Lat2-Terminus16}}, because according to {{ic|/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.Lat2-Terminus16}}, it claims to support "about 110 language sets".

See [[Fonts#Console_fonts|Console fonts]] and {{ic|man vconsole.conf}} for more information.

See [[Fonts#Console_fonts|Console fonts]] and {{ic|man vconsole.conf}} for more information.

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: {{bc|# hwclock --systohc --utc}}

: {{bc|# hwclock --systohc --utc}}

+

+

To synchronize your "UTC" time over the internet, see [[Network Time Protocol daemon|NTPd]].

* '''localtime''' (discouraged; used by default in Windows)

* '''localtime''' (discouraged; used by default in Windows)

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If you have (or planning on having) a dual boot setup with Windows:

If you have (or planning on having) a dual boot setup with Windows:

−

* Recommended: Set both Arch Linux and Windows to use UTC. A quick [[Time#UTC_in_Windows|registry fix]] is needed. Also, be sure to prevent Windows from synchronizing the time on-line, because the hardware clock will default back to ''localtime''. If you want such functionality (NTP sync), you should use [[ntpd]] on your Arch Linux installation instead.

+

* Recommended: Set both Arch Linux and Windows to use UTC. A quick [[Time#UTC in Windows|registry fix]] is needed. Also, be sure to prevent Windows from synchronizing the time on-line, because the hardware clock will default back to ''localtime''.

−

* Not recommended: Set Arch Linux to ''localtime'' and disable any time-related services, like {{ic|ntpd.service}}. This will let Windows take care of hardware clock corrections and you will need to remember to boot into Windows at least two times a year (in Spring and Autumn) when [[Wikipedia:Daylight_savings_time|DST]] kicks in. So please don't ask on the forums why the clock is one hour behind or ahead if you usually go for days or weeks without booting into Windows.

+

* Not recommended: Set Arch Linux to ''localtime'' and disable any time-related services, like [[Network Time Protocol daemon|NTPd]] . This will let Windows take care of hardware clock corrections and you will need to remember to boot into Windows at least two times a year (in Spring and Autumn) when [[Wikipedia:Daylight saving time|DST]] kicks in. So please don't ask on the forums why the clock is one hour behind or ahead if you usually go for days or weeks without booting into Windows.

==== Kernel modules ====

==== Kernel modules ====

Line 480:

Line 537:

virtio-net}}

virtio-net}}

−

If there are more modules to load per {{ic|*.conf}}, the module names can be separated by newlines. A good example are the [[VirtualBox#Arch_Linux_guests|VirtualBox Guest Additions]].

+

If there are more modules to load per {{ic|*.conf}}, the module names can be separated by newlines. A good example are the [[VirtualBox#Arch Linux guests|VirtualBox Guest Additions]].

Empty lines and lines starting with {{ic|#}} or {{ic|;}} are ignored.

Empty lines and lines starting with {{ic|#}} or {{ic|;}} are ignored.

Line 490:

Line 547:

# echo ''myhostname'' > /etc/hostname

# echo ''myhostname'' > /etc/hostname

−

{{Note|You no longer need to edit {{ic|/etc/hosts}}. The {{Pkg|nss-myhostname}} package will provide host name resolution, and is installed on all systems by default.}}

+

{{Note|There is no need to edit {{ic|/etc/hosts}}.}}

=== Configure the network ===

=== Configure the network ===

−

You need to configure the network again, but this time for your newly installed environment. The procedure and prerequisites are very similar to the one described [[#Establish_an_internet_connection|above]], except we are going to make it persistent and automatically run at boot.

+

You need to configure the network again, but this time for your newly installed environment. The procedure and prerequisites are very similar to the one described [[#Establish an internet connection|above]], except we are going to make it persistent and automatically run at boot.

If you only use a single fixed wired network connection, you do not need a network management service and can simply enable the {{ic|dhcpcd}} service:

+

{{Warning|A bug has been noted in the install ISO, in which the name your interface has during installation differs from the one it will have upon reboot. See [https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/33923 Bug #33923] for more details.

+

Until this bug is fixed, you can use the following script to find the name your interface will have after boot:

+

for i in /sys/class/net/*; do

+

echo "&#61;&#61;$i"

+

udevadm test-builtin net_id "$i";

+

echo

+

done 2>/dev/null

+

}}

−

# systemctl enable dhcpcd@eth0.service

+

If you only use a single fixed wired network connection, you do not need a network management service and can simply enable the {{ic|dhcpcd}} service. Where <interface> is your wired interface:

+

# systemctl enable dhcpcd@<interface>.service

Alternatively, you can use {{Pkg|netcfg}}'s {{ic|net-auto-wired}}, which gracefully handles dynamic connections to new networks:

Alternatively, you can use {{Pkg|netcfg}}'s {{ic|net-auto-wired}}, which gracefully handles dynamic connections to new networks:

+

Install {{Pkg|ifplugd}}, which is required for {{ic|net-auto-wired}}:

# pacman -S ifplugd

# pacman -S ifplugd

−

# cd /etc/network.d

+

−

# ln -s examples/ethernet-dhcp .

+

Edit {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}} and modify the network interface name, most likely it is not eth0. You can find out more about the naming in the warning above.

+

{{hc|nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg|2=

+

WIRED_INTERFACE="<interface>"}}

+

+

Enable the {{ic|net-auto-wired}} service.

# systemctl enable net-auto-wired.service

# systemctl enable net-auto-wired.service

; Static IP

; Static IP

−

−

Install {{Pkg|ifplugd}}, which is required for {{ic|net-auto-wired}}:

−

−

# pacman -S ifplugd

Copy a sample profile from {{ic|/etc/network.d/examples}} to {{ic|/etc/network.d}}:

Copy a sample profile from {{ic|/etc/network.d/examples}} to {{ic|/etc/network.d}}:

Edit {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}} and add the new network profile to the {{ic|NETWORKS}} array:

+

{{hc|nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg|

+

2=NETWORKS=(ethernet-static)}}

−

# systemctl enable net-auto-wired.service

+

Enable the {{ic|netcfg}} service:

+

# systemctl enable netcfg.service

==== Wireless ====

==== Wireless ====

Line 542:

Line 609:

# pacman -S wireless_tools wpa_supplicant wpa_actiond dialog

# pacman -S wireless_tools wpa_supplicant wpa_actiond dialog

−

If your wireless adapter requires a firmware (as described in the above [[#Wireless|Establish an internet connection]] section and also [[Wireless_Setup#Drivers_and_firmware|here]]), install the package containing your firmware. For example:

+

If your wireless adapter requires a firmware (as described in the above [[#Wireless|Establish an internet connection]] section and also [[Wireless Setup#Drivers and firmware|here]]), install the package containing your firmware. For example:

# pacman -S zd1211-firmware

# pacman -S zd1211-firmware

−

* Connect to the network with {{ic|wifi-menu}} (optionally checking the interface name with {{ic|ip link}}, but usually it's {{ic|wlan0}}), which will generate a profile file in {{ic|/etc/network.d}} named after the SSID. There are also templates available in {{ic|/etc/network.d/examples/}} for manual configuration.

+

* After finishing the rest of this installation and rebooting, you can connect to the network with {{ic|wifi-menu <interface>}} (where {{ic|<interface>}} is the interface of your wireless chipset), which will generate a profile file in {{ic|/etc/network.d}} named after the SSID. There are also templates available in {{ic|/etc/network.d/examples/}} for manual configuration.

+

+

# wifi-menu <interface>

−

# wifi-menu

+

{{Warning|If you're using {{ic|wifi-menu}}, this must be done *after* your reboot when you're no longer chrooted. The process spawned by this command will conflict with the one you have running outside of the chroot. Alternatively, you could just configure a network profile manually using the templates previously mentioned so that you don't have to worry about using {{ic|wifi-menu}} at all.}}

* Enable the {{ic|net-auto-wireless}} service, which will connect to known networks and gracefully handle roaming and disconnects:

* Enable the {{ic|net-auto-wireless}} service, which will connect to known networks and gracefully handle roaming and disconnects:

Line 556:

Line 625:

{{Note|[[Netcfg]] also provides {{ic|net-auto-wired}}, which can be used in conjunction with {{ic|net-auto-wireless}}.}}

{{Note|[[Netcfg]] also provides {{ic|net-auto-wired}}, which can be used in conjunction with {{ic|net-auto-wireless}}.}}

−

* Make sure that the correct wireless interface (usually {{ic|wlan0}}) is set in {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}}:

+

* Make sure that the correct wireless interface (e.g. {{ic|wlp3s0}}) is set in {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}}:

{{hc|# nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg|2=

{{hc|# nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg|2=

−

WIRELESS_INTERFACE="wlan0"}}

+

WIRELESS_INTERFACE="wlp3s0"}}

It is also possible to define a list of network profiles that should be automatically connected, using the {{ic|AUTO_PROFILES}} variable in {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}}. If {{ic|AUTO_PROFILES}} is not set, all known wireless networks will be tried.

It is also possible to define a list of network profiles that should be automatically connected, using the {{ic|AUTO_PROFILES}} variable in {{ic|/etc/conf.d/netcfg}}. If {{ic|AUTO_PROFILES}} is not set, all known wireless networks will be tried.

Line 569:

Line 638:

=== Configure pacman ===

=== Configure pacman ===

−

Pacman is the Arch Linux '''pac'''kage '''man'''ager. It is highly recommended to study and learn how to use it. Read {{ic|man pacman}}, have a look at the [[pacman]] article, or check out the [[Pacman Rosetta]] article for a comparison to other popular package managers.

+

Pacman is the Arch Linux '''pac'''kage '''man'''ager. It is highly recommended to study and learn how to use it. Read {{ic|man pacman}}, have a look at the [[pacman]] and [[Pacman - An Introduction]] articles, or check out the [[Pacman Rosetta]] article for a comparison to other popular package managers.

{{Note|When choosing repos, be sure to uncomment both the {{ic|[''repo_name'']}} header lines, as well as the {{ic|Include}} lines. Failure to do so will result in the selected repository being omitted! This is a very common error.}}

−

# nano /etc/pacman.conf

# nano /etc/pacman.conf

Line 580:

Line 646:

If you installed Arch Linux x86_64, it's recommended that you enable the {{ic|[multilib]}} repository, as well (to be able to run both 32 bit and 64 bit applications):

If you installed Arch Linux x86_64, it's recommended that you enable the {{ic|[multilib]}} repository, as well (to be able to run both 32 bit and 64 bit applications):

+

+

{{Note|When choosing repos, be sure to uncomment both the {{ic|[''repo_name'']}} header lines, as well as the lines below. Failure to do so will result in the selected repository being omitted! This is a very common error. A correct example for the multilib repository is found below.}}

[multilib]

[multilib]

+

SigLevel = PackageRequired

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

+

+

You will then need to update the package list by running {{ic|pacman}} with the {{ic|-Sy}} switch. Failing to do so will generate "warning: database file for 'multilib' does not exist" error when next using pacman.

See [[Official Repositories]] for more information, including details about the purpose of each repository.

See [[Official Repositories]] for more information, including details about the purpose of each repository.

Line 598:

Line 669:

# mkinitcpio -p linux

# mkinitcpio -p linux

−

=== Set the root password and add a regular user ===

+

{{Note|Arch VPS installations on QEMU (e.g. when using {{ic|virt-manager}}) may need {{ic|virtio}} modules in {{ic|mkinitcpio.conf}} to be able to boot.

+

+

{{hc|# nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf|2=

+

MODULES="virtio virtio_blk virtio_pci virtio_net"}}}}

+

+

=== Set the root password ===

Set the root password with:

Set the root password with:

# passwd

# passwd

−

−

{{Warning|Linux is a multi-user operating system. You should not perform everyday tasks using the root account. It is considered a very poor practice and could be extremely dangerous. The root account should only be used for administrative tasks.}}

−

−

Then add a normal user account. For a more interactive way, you can use {{ic|adduser}}. However, below is the non-interactive way. The user ''archie'' is just an example.

−

−

# useradd -m -g users -s /bin/bash ''archie''

−

# passwd ''archie''

−

−

If you wish to start over, use {{ic|userdel}}. The {{ic|-r}} option will remove the user's home directory and its content, along with the user's settings (the so-called "dot" files).

−

−

# userdel -r ''archie''

−

−

For more information, read [[Users and Groups]].

=== Install and configure a bootloader ===

=== Install and configure a bootloader ===

Line 651:

Line 714:

===== GRUB =====

===== GRUB =====

−

Install the {{Pkg|grub-bios}} package and then run {{ic|grub-install}}:

+

Install the {{Pkg|grub-bios}} package and then run {{ic|grub-install /dev/sda}}:

{{Note|Change {{ic|/dev/sda}} to reflect the drive you installed Arch on. Do not append a partition number (do not use {{ic|sda''X''}}).}}

{{Note|Change {{ic|/dev/sda}} to reflect the drive you installed Arch on. Do not append a partition number (do not use {{ic|sda''X''}}).}}

For UEFI boot, the drive needs to be GPT-partitioned, and a UEFI System Partition (512 MiB or higher, FAT32, type {{ic|EF00}}) must be present and mounted on {{ic|/boot/efi}}. If you have followed this guide from the beginning, you've already done all of these.

For UEFI boot, the drive needs to be GPT-partitioned, and a UEFI System Partition (512 MiB or higher, FAT32, type {{ic|EF00}}) must be present and mounted on {{ic|/boot/efi}}. If you have followed this guide from the beginning, you've already done all of these.

−

While there are other [[UEFI_Bootloaders|UEFI bootloaders]] available, using EFISTUB is recommended. Below are instructions for setting up EFISTUB and GRUB.

+

While there are other [[UEFI Bootloaders|UEFI bootloaders]] available, using EFISTUB is recommended. Below are instructions for setting up EFISTUB and GRUB.

{{Note|Syslinux does not yet support UEFI.}}

{{Note|Syslinux does not yet support UEFI.}}

Line 679:

Line 742:

===== EFISTUB =====

===== EFISTUB =====

−

The Linux kernel can act as its own bootloader using EFISTUB. This is the UEFI boot method recommended by developers and simpler compared to {{ic|grub-efi-x86_64}}. The below steps set up rEFInd (a fork of rEFIt) to provide a menu for EFISTUB kernels, as well as for booting other UEFI bootloaders. You can also use [[UEFI_Bootloaders#Using_gummiboot|gummiboot]] instead of rEFInd. Both rEFInd and gummiboot can detect Windows UEFI bootloader in case of dual-boot.

+

The Linux kernel can act as its own bootloader using EFISTUB. This is the UEFI boot method recommended by developers and simpler compared to {{ic|grub-efi-x86_64}}. The below steps set up rEFInd (a fork of rEFIt) to provide a menu for EFISTUB kernels, as well as for booting other UEFI bootloaders. You can also use [[UEFI Bootloaders#Using gummiboot|gummiboot]] instead of rEFInd. Both rEFInd and gummiboot can detect Windows UEFI bootloader in case of dual-boot.

2. Mount the UEFISYS partition at {{ic|/mnt/boot/efi}}, chroot and [[UEFI_Bootloaders#Setting_up_EFISTUB|copy the kernel and initramfs files]] to {{ic|/boot/efi}}.

+

2. Mount the UEFISYS partition at {{ic|/mnt/boot/efi}}, chroot and [[UEFI_Bootloaders#Setting_up_EFISTUB|copy the kernel and initramfs files]] as described below.

+

+

* Create {{ic|/boot/efi/EFI/arch/}} directory.

+

+

* Copy {{ic|/boot/vmlinuz-linux}} to {{ic|/boot/efi/EFI/arch/vmlinuz-arch.efi}}. The {{ic|.efi}} file extension is very important as some UEFI firmwares refuse to launch a file without this extension. '''Important:''' Remember that the file is called vmlinu'''z''', but not vmlinu'''x'''.

3. Every time the kernel and initramfs files are updated in {{ic|/boot}}, they need to be updated in {{ic|/boot/efi/EFI/arch}}. This can be automated either [[UEFI_Bootloaders#Sync_EFISTUB_Kernel_in_UEFISYS_partition_using_Systemd|using systemd]] or [[UEFI_Bootloaders#Sync_EFISTUB_Kernel_in_UEFISYS_partition_using_Incron|using incron]] (for non-systemd setups).

4. At this point, you can jump to [[UEFI Bootloaders#Booting EFISTUB]] to choose a method of installing the boot loader. The following instructions will get you set up using a boot GUI called rEFInd. Install the following packages:

+

Every time the kernel and initramfs files are updated in {{ic|/boot}}, they need to be updated in {{ic|/boot/efi/EFI/arch}}. This can be automated either [[UEFI Bootloaders#Sync EFISTUB Kernel in UEFISYS partition using Systemd|using systemd]] or [[UEFI Bootloaders#Sync EFISTUB Kernel in UEFISYS partition using Incron|using incron]] (for non-systemd setups).

+

3. In this guide you set up a bootloader GUI called rEFInd. Alternative bootloaders can be found on the page [[UEFI Bootloaders#Booting EFISTUB]].

Installation

You are now presented with a shell prompt, automatically logged in as root.

Change the language

Tip: These are optional for the majority of users. Useful only if you plan on writing in your own language in any of the configuration files, if you use diacritical marks in the Wi-Fi password, or if you would like to receive system messages (e.g. possible errors) in your own language.

By default, the keyboard layout is set to us. If you have a non-US keyboard layout, run:

# loadkeys layout

...where layout can be fr, uk, be-latin1, etc. See here for a comprehensive list.

The font should also be changed, because most languages use more glyphs than the 26 letter English alphabet. Otherwise some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. Note that the name is case-sensitive, so please type it exactly as you see it:

# setfont Lat2-Terminus16

By default, the language is set to English (US). If you would like to change the language for the install process (German, in this example), remove the # in front of the locale you want from /etc/locale.gen, along with English (US). Please choose the UTF-8 entry.

Establish an internet connection

Warning: udev no longer assigns network interface names according to the wlanX and ethX naming scheme. If you're coming from a different distribution or are reinstalling Arch and not aware of the new interface naming style, please do not assume that your wireless interface is named wlan0, or that your wired interface is named eth0. You can use the "ip" utility to discover the names of your interfaces.

From systemd-197's release and onward, udev now assigns predictable, stable network interface names that deviate from the legacy incremental naming scheme (wlan0, wlan1, etc.). These interface names are guaranteed to be persistent across reboots, which solves the problem of the lack of predictability of network interface name assignment. For more information about why this was necessary, read http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/PredictableNetworkInterfaceNames .

The dhcpcd network daemon is started automatically at boot and it will attempt to start a wired connection, if available. Try pinging a website to see if it was successful. And since Google is always on...

If you get a ping: unknown host error, first check if there is any problem with your cable (or if you have enough wireless signal), otherwise you will need to set up the network manually, as explained below.

In this case, the ethernet interface is enp2s0f0. If you're unsure, your ethernet interface is likely to start with the letter "e", and unlikely to be "lo" or start with the letter "w". You can also use iwconfig and see which interfaces are not wireless:

You should now have a working network connection. If you do not, check the detailed Network Configuration page.

Wireless

Follow this procedure if you need wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) during the installation process.

If you're coming from another distribution, or if this is your first time installing Arch Linux since the deprecation of the old interface naming scheme, you might be surprised to learn that the first wireless interface is not named "wlan0". In fact, none of the interfaces are automatically prefixed with "wlan" any longer. Don't panic; simply execute iwconfig to discover the name of your wireless interface.

The wireless drivers and utilities are now available to you in the live environment of the installation media. A good knowledge of your wireless hardware will be of key importance to successful configuration. Note that the following quick-start procedure executed at this point in the installation will initialize your wireless hardware for use in the live environment of the installation media. These steps (or some other form of wireless management) must be repeated from the actual installed system after booting into it.

Also note that these steps are optional if wireless connectivity is unnecessary at this point in the installation; wireless functionality may always be established later.

Note: The following examples use wlp3s0 for the interface and linksys for the ESSID. Remember to change these values according to your setup.

The basic procedure will be:

Identify the wireless interface:

# lspci | grep -i net

Or, if using a USB adapter:

# lsusb

Ensure udev has loaded the driver, and that the driver has created a usable wireless kernel interface with iwconfig:

Note: If you do not see output similar to this, then your wireless driver has not been loaded. If this is the case, you must load the driver yourself. Please see Wireless Setup for more detailed information.

A small percentage of wireless chipsets also require firmware, in addition to a corresponding driver. If the wireless chipset requires firmware, you are likely to receive this error when bringing the interface up:

# ip link set wlp3s0 up

SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory

If unsure, invoke dmesg to query the kernel log for a firmware request from the wireless chipset.

Example output from an Intel chipset which requires and has requested firmware from the kernel at boot:

# dmesg | grep firmware

firmware: requesting iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode

If there is no output, it may be concluded that the system's wireless chipset does not require firmware.

Warning: Wireless chipset firmware packages (for cards which require them) are pre-installed under /usr/lib/firmware in the live environment (on CD/USB stick) but must be explicitly installed to your actual system to provide wireless functionality after you reboot into it! Package installation is covered later in this guide. Ensure installation of both your wireless module and firmware before rebooting! See Wireless Setup if you are unsure about the requirement of corresponding firmware installation for your particular chipset.

Next, use netcfg's wifi-menu to connect to a network. Replace wlp3s0" with the name of your interface:

See Swap for details if you wish to set up a swap partition or file now. A swap file is easier to resize than a partition and can be created at any point after installation, but cannot be used with a BTRFS filesystem.

If you are not dual booting with Windows, then it is advisable to use GPT instead of MBR. Read GPT for a list of advantages.

If you have a BIOS motherboard (or plan on booting in BIOS compatibility mode) and you want to setup GRUB on a GPT-partitioned drive, you will need to create an extra BIOS Boot Partition. Syslinux doesn't need one.

Double check and make sure that you are happy with the partition sizes as well as the partition table layout before continuing.

If you would like to start over, you can simply select Quit (or press Template:Keypress) to exit without saving changes and then restart cfdisk (or cgdisk).

If you are satisfied, choose Write (or press Template:Keypress) to finalize and to write the partition table to the drive. Type "yes" and choose Quit (or press Template:Keypress) to exit without making any more changes.

Simply partitioning is not enough; the partitions also need a filesystem. To format the partitions with an ext4 filesystem:

Warning: Double check and triple check that it's actually /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 that you want to format.

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2

If you have made a partition dedicated to swap (code 82), don't forget to format and activate it with:

# mkswap /dev/sdaX
# swapon /dev/sdaX

Mount the partitions

Each partition is identified with a number suffix. For example, sda1 specifies the first partition of the first drive, while sda designates the entire drive.

To display the current partition layout:

# lsblk /dev/sda

Note: Do not mount more than one partition to the same directory. And pay attention, because the mounting order is important.

First, mount the root partition on /mnt. Following the example when using cfdisk above (yours may be different), it would be:

# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

Then mount the home partition and any other separate partition (/boot, /var, etc), if you have any:

# mkdir /mnt/home
# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/home

In case you have a UEFI motherboard, mount the UEFI partition:

# mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
# mount /dev/sdaX /mnt/boot/efi

Select a mirror

Before installing, you may want to edit the mirrorlist file and place your preferred mirror first. A copy of this file will be installed on your new system by pacstrap as well, so it's worth getting it right.

If you want, you can make it the only mirror available by getting rid of everything else (using Template:Keypress), but it's usually a good idea to have a few more, in case the first one goes offline.

Tip:

Use the Mirrorlist Generator to get an updated list for your country. HTTP mirrors are faster than FTP, because of something called keepalive. With FTP, pacman has to send out a signal each time it downloads a package, resulting in a brief pause. For other ways to generate a mirror list, see Sorting mirrors and Reflector.

Arch Linux MirrorStatus reports various aspects about the mirrors such as network problems with mirrors, data collection problems, the last time mirrors have been synced, etc.

Note:

Whenever in the future you change your list of mirrors, always remember to force pacman to refresh all package lists with pacman -Syy. This is considered to be good practice and will avoid possible headaches. See Mirrors for more information.

If you're using an older installation medium, your mirrorlist might be outdated, which might lead to problems when updating Arch Linux (see FS#22510). Therefore it is advised to obtain the latest mirror information as described above.

Some issues have been reported in the Arch Linux forums regarding network problems that prevent pacman from updating/synchronizing repositories (see [1] and [2]). When installing Arch Linux natively, these issues have been resolved by replacing the default pacman file downloader with an alternative (see Improve Pacman Performance for more details). When installing Arch Linux as a guest OS in VirtualBox, this issue has also been addressed by using "Host interface" instead of "NAT" in the machine properties.

Install the base system

The -i switch can be omitted if you wish to install every package from the base and base-devel groups without prompting.

# pacstrap -i /mnt base base-devel

Note: If pacman fails to verify your packages, check the system time with cal. If the system date is invalid (e.g. it shows year 2010), signing keys will be considered expired (or invalid), signature checks on packages will fail and installation will be interrupted. Make sure to correct the system time, either by doing so manually or with the ntp client, and retry running the pacstrap command. Refer to Time page for more information on correcting system time.

Note: If pacman complains about invalid signatures during the pacstrap phase (error: failed to commit transaction (invalid or corrupted package)) run the following command below.

# pacman-key --init && pacman-key --populate archlinux

base: Software packages from the [core] repo to provide the minimal base environment.

base-devel: Extra tools from [core] such as make, and automake. Most beginners should choose to install it, as it will likely be needed to expand the system. The base-devel group will be required to install software from the Arch User Repository.

This will give you a basic Arch system. Other packages can be installed later using pacman.

Generate an fstab

Generate an fstab file with the following command. UUIDs will be used because they have certain advantages (see fstab#Identifying filesystems). If you would prefer to use labels instead, replace the -U option with -L.

Note: If you encounter errors running genfstab or later in the install process, do not run genfstab again; just edit the fstab file.

# genfstab -U -p /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab
# nano /mnt/etc/fstab

Warning: The fstab file should always be checked after generating it. If you made an EFI system partition earlier, then genfstab has incorrectly added options to your EFI system partition. This will in fact prevent your computer from booting from that drive, so you need to remove all options for the EFI partition except for noatime. For the other partitions that use it, be sure to replace "codepage=cp437" with "codepage=437" or else when you next reboot, any mounts with this option will fail and systemd will halt and drop into recovery mode. This should be fixed by linux 3.8

A few considerations:

Only the root (/) partition needs 1 for the last field. Everything else should have either 2 or 0 (see fstab#Field definitions).

Chroot and configure the base system

At this stage of the installation, you will configure the primary configuration files of your Arch Linux base system. These can either be created if they do not exist, or edited if you wish to change the defaults.

Closely following and understanding these steps is of key importance to ensure a properly configured system.

Locale

Locales are used by glibc and other locale-aware programs or libraries for rendering text, correctly displaying regional monetary values, time and date formats, alphabetic idiosyncrasies, and other locale-specific standards.

There are two files that need editing: locale.gen and locale.conf.

The locale.gen file is empty by default (everything is commented out) and you need to remove the # in front of the line(s) you want. You may uncomment more lines than just English (US), as long as you choose their UTF-8 encoding:

# nano /etc/locale.gen

en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
de_DE.UTF-8 UTF-8

# locale-gen

This will run on every glibc upgrade, generating all the locales specified in /etc/locale.gen.

The locale.conf file doesn't exist by default. Setting only LANG should be enough. It will act as the default value for all other variables.

# echo LANG=en_US.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
# export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Note: If you set some other language than English at the beginning of the install, the above commands would be something like:

# echo LANG=de_DE.UTF-8 > /etc/locale.conf
# export LANG=de_DE.UTF-8

To use other LC_* variables, first run locale to see the available options. An advanced example can be found here.

Warning: Using the LC_ALL variable is strongly discouraged because it overrides everything.

Console font and keymap

If you set a keymap at the beginning of the install process, load it now, as well, because the environment has changed. For example:

# loadkeys de-latin1
# setfont Lat2-Terminus16

To make them available after reboot, edit vconsole.conf:

# nano /etc/vconsole.conf

KEYMAP=de-latin1
FONT=Lat2-Terminus16

KEYMAP – Please note that this setting is only valid for your TTYs, not any graphical window managers or Xorg.

FONT – Available alternate console fonts reside in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/. The default (blank) is safe, but some foreign characters may show up as white squares or as other symbols. It's recommended that you change it to Lat2-Terminus16, because according to /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.Lat2-Terminus16, it claims to support "about 110 language sets".

Possible option FONT_MAP – Defines the console map to load at boot. Read man setfont. Removing it or leaving it blank is safe.

Warning: Using localtime may lead to several known and unfixable bugs. However, there are no plans to drop support for localtime.

# hwclock --systohc --localtime

If you have (or planning on having) a dual boot setup with Windows:

Recommended: Set both Arch Linux and Windows to use UTC. A quick registry fix is needed. Also, be sure to prevent Windows from synchronizing the time on-line, because the hardware clock will default back to localtime.

Not recommended: Set Arch Linux to localtime and disable any time-related services, like NTPd . This will let Windows take care of hardware clock corrections and you will need to remember to boot into Windows at least two times a year (in Spring and Autumn) when DST kicks in. So please don't ask on the forums why the clock is one hour behind or ahead if you usually go for days or weeks without booting into Windows.

Kernel modules

Tip: This is just an example, you do not need to set it. All needed modules are automatically loaded by udev, so you will rarely need to add something here. Only add modules that you know are missing.

For kernel modules to load during boot, place a *.conf file in /etc/modules-load.d/, with a name based on the program that uses them.

# nano /etc/modules-load.d/virtio-net.conf

# Load 'virtio-net.ko' at boot.
virtio-net

If there are more modules to load per *.conf, the module names can be separated by newlines. A good example are the VirtualBox Guest Additions.

Empty lines and lines starting with # or ; are ignored.

Hostname

Configure the network

You need to configure the network again, but this time for your newly installed environment. The procedure and prerequisites are very similar to the one described above, except we are going to make it persistent and automatically run at boot.

If your wireless adapter requires a firmware (as described in the above Establish an internet connection section and also here), install the package containing your firmware. For example:

# pacman -S zd1211-firmware

After finishing the rest of this installation and rebooting, you can connect to the network with wifi-menu <interface> (where <interface> is the interface of your wireless chipset), which will generate a profile file in /etc/network.d named after the SSID. There are also templates available in /etc/network.d/examples/ for manual configuration.

# wifi-menu <interface>

Warning: If you're using wifi-menu, this must be done *after* your reboot when you're no longer chrooted. The process spawned by this command will conflict with the one you have running outside of the chroot. Alternatively, you could just configure a network profile manually using the templates previously mentioned so that you don't have to worry about using wifi-menu at all.

Enable the net-auto-wireless service, which will connect to known networks and gracefully handle roaming and disconnects:

# systemctl enable net-auto-wireless.service

Note: Netcfg also provides net-auto-wired, which can be used in conjunction with net-auto-wireless.

Make sure that the correct wireless interface (e.g. wlp3s0) is set in /etc/conf.d/netcfg:

# nano /etc/conf.d/netcfg

WIRELESS_INTERFACE="wlp3s0"

It is also possible to define a list of network profiles that should be automatically connected, using the AUTO_PROFILES variable in /etc/conf.d/netcfg. If AUTO_PROFILES is not set, all known wireless networks will be tried.

xDSL (PPPoE), analog modem or ISDN

Configure pacman

Pacman is the Arch Linux package manager. It is highly recommended to study and learn how to use it. Read man pacman, have a look at the pacman and Pacman - An Introduction articles, or check out the Pacman Rosetta article for a comparison to other popular package managers.

For repository selections and pacman options, edit pacman.conf:

# nano /etc/pacman.conf

Most people will want to use [core], [extra] and [community].

If you installed Arch Linux x86_64, it's recommended that you enable the [multilib] repository, as well (to be able to run both 32 bit and 64 bit applications):

Note: When choosing repos, be sure to uncomment both the [repo_name] header lines, as well as the lines below. Failure to do so will result in the selected repository being omitted! This is a very common error. A correct example for the multilib repository is found below.

Create an initial ramdisk environment

Tip: Most users can skip this step and use the defaults provided in mkinitcpio.conf. The initramfs image (from the /boot folder) has already been generated based on this file when the linux package (the Linux kernel) was installed earlier with pacstrap.

Here you need to set the right hooks if the root is on a USB drive, if you use RAID, LVM, or if /usr is on a separate partition.

Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf as needed and re-generate the initramfs image with:

# mkinitcpio -p linux

Note: Arch VPS installations on QEMU (e.g. when using virt-manager) may need virtio modules in mkinitcpio.conf to be able to boot.

# nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

MODULES="virtio virtio_blk virtio_pci virtio_net"

Set the root password

Set the root password with:

# passwd

Install and configure a bootloader

For BIOS motherboards

For BIOS systems, there are three bootloaders - Syslinux, GRUB, and LILO. Choose the bootloader as per your convenience. Below only Syslinux and GRUB are explained.

Syslinux is (currently) limited to loading only files from the partition where it was installed. Its configuration file is considered to be easier to understand. An example configuration can be found here.

GRUB is more feature-rich and supports more complex scenarios. Its configuration file(s) is more similar to a scripting language, which may be difficult for beginners to manually write. It is recommended that they automatically generate one.

Syslinux

Install the syslinux package and then use the syslinux-install_update script to automatically install the files (-i), mark the partition active by setting the boot flag (-a), and install the MBR boot code (-m):

Note: If you have partitioned the drive as GPT, install gptfdisk package, as well (pacman -S gptfdisk), because it contains sgdisk, which will be used to set the GPT-specific boot flag.

# pacman -S syslinux
# syslinux-install_update -i -a -m

Configure syslinux.cfg to point to the right root partition. This step is vital. If it points to the wrong partition, Arch Linux will not boot. Change /dev/sda3 to reflect your root partition (if you partitioned your drive as in the example, your root partition is sda1). Do the same for the fallback entry.

For UEFI motherboards

For UEFI boot, the drive needs to be GPT-partitioned, and a UEFI System Partition (512 MiB or higher, FAT32, type EF00) must be present and mounted on /boot/efi. If you have followed this guide from the beginning, you've already done all of these.

While there are other UEFI bootloaders available, using EFISTUB is recommended. Below are instructions for setting up EFISTUB and GRUB.

Note: Syslinux does not yet support UEFI.

EFISTUB

The Linux kernel can act as its own bootloader using EFISTUB. This is the UEFI boot method recommended by developers and simpler compared to grub-efi-x86_64. The below steps set up rEFInd (a fork of rEFIt) to provide a menu for EFISTUB kernels, as well as for booting other UEFI bootloaders. You can also use gummiboot instead of rEFInd. Both rEFInd and gummiboot can detect Windows UEFI bootloader in case of dual-boot.

Copy /boot/vmlinuz-linux to /boot/efi/EFI/arch/vmlinuz-arch.efi. The .efi file extension is very important as some UEFI firmwares refuse to launch a file without this extension. Important: Remember that the file is called vmlinuz, but not vmlinux.

Every time the kernel and initramfs files are updated in /boot, they need to be updated in /boot/efi/EFI/arch. This can be automated either using systemd or using incron (for non-systemd setups).

3. In this guide you set up a bootloader GUI called rEFInd. Alternative bootloaders can be found on the page UEFI Bootloaders#Booting EFISTUB.
For the recommended rEFInd bootloader install the following packages:

The next command creates a menu entry for GRUB in the UEFI boot menu. However, as of grub-efi-x86_64 version 2.00, grub-install tries to create a menu entry, so running efibootmgr may not be necessary. See UEFI#efibootmgr for more info.